Some bowl projections have 'Canes staying (close to) home for the holidays

Some bowl projections have 'Canes staying (close to) home for the holidays

After bowl trips to Shreveport and El Paso the last two years, the Hurricanes could be staying a little closer to home this time around.

At least, that’s what Miami athletic director Blake James said on Monday night during an appearance with Joe Zagacki and Don Bailey Jr. during WQAM-560’s Hurricane Hotline.

James shared with the two hosts that he spent most of Monday communicating with bowl representatives from several games that have ACC ties and said he had a good feeling Miami would play its bowl game in the state of Florida, a possibility that has been brewing for weeks.

Representatives from both the TaxSlayer Bowl in Jacksonville and the Russell Athletic Bowl in Orlando have been among those attending multiple Miami games this season and either could be a potential landing spot for the Hurricanes. Some projections throughout the season have even had Miami possibly facing coach Mark Richt’s former Georgia team, a scenario that didn’t surprise the coach Monday.

“I wouldn’t doubt that somebody would try to get that matchup,” Richt said during his weekly radio appearance with WQAM’s Joe Rose. “But, I don’t know. It’s hard to say. I’ll say this about a bowl game in Orlando – that’s about as good as it gets, as far as for your players and family members. … There’s a shot at Jacksonville, Charlotte, New York. You don’t know for sure where you’re going, but I think it’ll be a great experience for our fans and the guys are looking forward to it. They want to get a victory and finish this season right and hopefully get ranked in the Top 25 when it’s all said and done.”

Wherever the Hurricanes end up, one thing is clear – Miami’s players are determined to end one of the more frustrating streaks in the program’s recent history. The Hurricanes haven’t won a bowl game since a 21-20 victory over Nevada in the MPC Computers Bowl in Boise in 2006 and in the final weeks of the regular season, several players have said their goal this year isn’t just to make a quality bowl game – they want to win their postseason game, too.

“I think our team peaked at the right time. We finished strong. It was bumpy in the middle of the season, but we finished strong and I think our coaches have gotten to understand our personnel and which guys are playmakers and which guys we can plug in a game and make plays with,” quarterback Brad Kaaya said after Miami closed the regular season out with a 40-21 win over Duke on Saturday. “I think the guys, the players have grown accustomed to the system and I think we’re peaking at the right time. To play ourselves into a fairly good bowl game and finish the season with a five-game win streak – I don’t think that’s happened here in a while, I don’t think we’ve won a bowl game in who knows how long – so just to finish on that high note, it’d be huge. It would set the platform for next year.”

With that, a look at where some current bowl projections have the Hurricanes spending the holidays.